Product Description

In this book you'll learn to see How very clever you can be.We'll teach you tricks to help you add,Some day in math class you'll be glad! In this follow-up to MATH FOR ALL SEASONS, Greg Tang underscores the importance of four basic rules in problem-solving. Keeping an open mind, looking for unusual number combinations, using multiple skills (like subtracting to add) and looking for patterns will guarantee any child success in math. In Math Appeal, Tang continues to challenge kids with his innovative approach to math.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #119246 in Books
• Published on: 2003-02-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 40 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780439210461
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From School Library Journal
Grade 1-3-Bright, whimsical illustrations and clever rhymes introduce challenging exercises. The verses are not particularly memorable, but they present the problems-how squares on a kite can be added quickly or peas in a pod grouped-with hints for their solutions. "My kite flies high, my kite flies free,/My kite just landed in a tree!/I was busy counting squares,/Now my kite is stuck up there./How many squares? Let me see,/It's best to add diagonally!" Teaching guides appear at the back of the book, and not all of the strategies for problem solving are obvious. In a note, Tang states that his goal is "to encourage clever, creative thinking," and the questions posed do that. This book will engage readers' visual and auditory senses and may be enjoyed one-on-one or in classroom settings.
Edith Ching, St. Albans School, Mt. St. Alban, Washington, DC
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Gr. 2-4. Tang, whose upbeat math books include The Grapes of Math (2001), offers children another playful experience with arithmetic. It seems misleading to call the rhymes "riddles," as that implies some twist of humor in the answer. However, the colorful, digital artwork, which stretches across each double-page spread, creates a cheerful setting for the challenges. On the left-hand page, groups of objects are aligned in a way that will make counting them easier. On the right, a rhyme sets out the problem to be solved and hints at a path toward its solution. One example involves grouping pods of five or six peas into sets of eleven peas: "A pea would find it rather odd, / To be alone inside a pod . . . Can you count up all the peas? / With 11's [sic] it's a breeze!" Some children will find it quicker to devise their own strategies or just to count the objects than to figure out the hint and apply it to the solution, but those who persevere will learn a useful approach: grouping objects as an aid to counting them. Carolyn Phelan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

"Math Appeal" Appeals To Kids!
One of my favourite books to read to my students is The Grapes of Math by Greg Tang. And now along with it, is Math Appeal, the sequel. Once again, what I love best about Tang's books is that it provides strategies for students and it shows them that thinking does not need to be linear -- that thinking outside the box shows creativity. Tang shows that there are different methods to an answer and that the thought process is just as important. As a teacher, I'm looking for higher level of thought from my students, for creativity and for them to be able to explain their thinking. Each page in Math Appeal becomes a daily challenge for the students, who in turn eagerly attempt these challenges. We're looking forward to the next book!

Fabulous Mental Math Challenge
Greg Tang gives us one more fantastic book. You will want to share this book with your "thinkers." I use this book with my fifth graders to help foster mental math skills. Tang teaches us how to look at groups of objects in an organized kind of way, and to add the objects quickly and efficiently. My son who is in kindergarten loves to look at the pictures, and challenges himself to add the objects. We have lots of fun!

A fun way to do math
Like all of Greg Tang's other math books, he takes math problems, sets them to rhyme, and gets your kids solving math problems. He gives a clue in the rhyme to help kids organize their counting patterns, and then the counting begins. The art work in his books is vibrant, bold, and fun. For example, he has children counting chili peppers in red and green hues while the opposite page has a cactus mariachi band playing at sunset. He's got partying peapods and a singing clam to help you count star fish. He also throws in some facts about the items you are counting (example--"with little suction cups for feet..." used for the starfish or "they somehow know to make a V, instead of flying randomly..." for the geese) which add a nice touch to his book. This is a fun way to teach kids about math and groupings without doing rote math facts.